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07 May 2010

First Friday Folder: Joshua Lassell & Mary Burnap

This is the second in (hopefully) a habit of regularly picking a folder that I have not seen for a while and giving it a once over. I thought last month's folder cleaning went well! With any luck, this process will eventually lead to either more room in the file drawer &/or better plans on what to do next!

Seventh-Great-Grandparents Joshua Lassell and Mary Burnap

Both Joshua and Mary were descendants of Great Migration immigrants. Joshua was born 18 February 1688/1689 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and died 11 April 1767 in Kent, Litchfield, Connecticut. Mary was born 6 January 1686/1687 in Reading, Middlesex, Massachusetts, and died before 1740, probably in Connceticut. They were married 14 Dec 1714 in Windham, Windham, Connecticut.

I picked this particular folder because I haven't worked on these lines for a while but had a nagging feeling that something was pending, and I was right! Organizing the contents of this folder was easy since there were only 2 items in it about Joshua and Mary, but there were several things for Mary's ancestors. I had verified her lines, but had not made the folders and had just stuck info in with Joshua & Mary.

So, I made 5 new folders and printed out new family group sheets for everyone. I saw that while I had cited it for his ancestors, I had neglected to site one of the main sources for the LASSELL line in any of Joshua's events: Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis [1]. A three volume set, this book is considered to be a reliable source for early New England information. I was led to its Lassell info by Hollick's New Englanders in the 1600s [2], which is a wonderful index to recent, quality research. I've had the book for 3 years now, and still haven't finished following up all the excellent citations it gives.

As for a plan for further research, there are no big controversies around this couple. The only big thing I'm missing is death information for Mary (and I will keep an eye out for it), but if greater greater minds than I have not found it yet, I will put it toward the bottom of the research list.

While filing the new folders for BURNAP ancestors, I saw that I had not yet removed the folders for the Martha Swift line, which I believe is NOT part of my ancestry. So, in removing Swift, Hatch, Wing, Dillinham, etc., this FirstFridayFolder effort still resulted in having more room in the file drawer even though I added 5 folders! Hurray!

Conclusions

There are still many early New Englanders with entries in Hollick for me to find, read, and synthesize. What I really need is a plan to more efficiently use my time!

It's only 2 months old, but First Friday Folder is working for me so far. I feel a sense of accomplishment from today's efforts!

Surname Line of Descent: Mary Burnap

Thomas Burnap = Johanna Norrys (my 14th-great-grandparents)

Thomas Burnap = Alice Cramphorne

Thomas Burnap = unknown

Tobert Burnap = Ann/Agnes Miller

Robert Burnap = Ann

John Burnap = Mary Rice

Mary Burnap = Joshua Lassell

Surname Line of Descent: John Lazell

John Lazell = Elizabeth Gates (my 9th-great-grandparents)

Thomas Lassell = Mary Allen

Joshua Lassell = Mary Burnap

Isaac Lasell = Bethiah Woodward

Abigail Lasell = Joseph Palmer

Zenas Palmer = Lydia Marshall

Lydia Palmer = David Bascom

Hannah Field Bascom = Titus Davison

Clara Eveline Davidson = Celim Homer Porter

L Willis Porter (my grandfather)

References

[1] Walter Goodwin Davis, Massachusetts and Maine Families in the Ancestry of Walter Goodwin Davis (1885-1966): A Reprinting, in Alphabetical Order by Surname, of the Sixteen Multi-Ancestor Compendia (Three volumes). Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1996. The Lassell entry is in Vol. 2, pp. 412-415+.

[2] Martin E. Hollick, New Englanders in the 1600s: A Guide to Genealogical Research Published Between 1980 and 2005. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2006.

Disclaimers

I receive no special consideration from these publishers. I bought my own copy of Hollick; I access Davis at a local Regional Family History Center.